I usually begin these reviews with some background information on the band, but I guess that’s fairly irrelevant- what matters is the music right? They’re from Stockholm and their singer sang in St Vitus for one album, hopefully that will sate the music nerds (including the one in me.) So to the music in question; described as CULT DOOM - I’m not sure quite what that means. It’s just good stoner music in the style of Kyuss, Acrimony, Sleep, Goatsnake and the like. If you like those bands you’ll probably find something to like in Goatess.

If you don’t like or haven’t heard any of those bands, listen to this and see you enjoy it, if you do, you’ll probably find something to enjoy in those other bands. Some psychedelic vibes float about, recalling Orange Goblin or Samsara Blues Experiment in parts, and it is nicely recorded - if a little dry. A personal highlight on ‘Ripe;’ alternating between barely lifting you from your recumbent position and floating you through corridors in the depths of your mind to picking up tempo to driving-through-the-desert speed.

The album holds its goodness throughout but I don’t think it is not one that needs to be listened to from start to finish. ‘Oracle Pt 1 and 2’ are slightly self-indulgent (perhaps that’s what they mean by ‘cult’) but on the whole it’s all worth a listen. Opener ‘Know Your Animal’ is probably the most standout track and the most likely to get stuck in your head.

All in all I think perhaps Goatess may have gone through their back catalogue of stoner and doom bands and used just about every trick in the book to put this album together. And they’ve done a good job of using those tricks; it just feels a little bit like I’ve been here before, like stoner by numbers perhaps. Has the genre finally become saturated? I hope not. Hopefully these guys will come into their own a bit more as their career progresses. We shall see.